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Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter presents the vital documents, books, magazines, journals,

published and unpublished materials the researcher browsed and reviewed in

gathering vital information pertaining to the problem of this study. The researcher

believed that these excerpts and citations taken from the aforementioned materials

gave substance and strengthened the need of the study.

Related Literature

As technology has been an integral teaching entity in the 21st century, it

poses the question of whether technology is conducive to students’ learning

outcomes (Tran, 2021). The purposes of this qualitative study included three key

aspects: 1. To explore early childhood teachers’ integration of technology to

enhance the early literacy development of their children. 2. To examine the factors

that influence teachers’ classroom practices. 3. To decipher the discrepancies

between the pedagogical practices of preschool and kindergarten teachers about

using technology to support students’ literacy development.

This chapter presents a review of literature on the topic of technology

integration in preschool and kindergarten curricula to set forth the importance of

literacy acquisition for school readiness, technology-integrated curricula, and

bridging the gap between preschool and kindergarten teachers. The literature

review includes the theoretical framework that provided a lens to conceptualize the

study, the importance of early literacy, the importance of technology in literacy

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acquisition, the professional development of technology-based curricula for ECE

teachers, and the comparison between preschool and kindergarten curricula.

Theoretical Perspectives Curriculums in early childhood education, namely

in preschool, are influenced by many early learning and development theories.

Essentialists believe that education should be practical to prepare students to be

an asset to their society. Progressivism asserts that schools should focus on

hands-on, cooperative learning, and learning by doing (Zirhlioglu & Yayla, 2016).

In bridging these two theories, the use of technology in the classroom can provide

ample opportunities for practical learning while promoting hands-on, cooperative

work. Technology allows children to manipulate information and work together

(Holmes et al., 2015).

Information and communication technology (ICT) is becoming increasingly

important in our daily lives and in our educational system. There is a growing

demand for educational institutions to use ICT to teach the skills and knowledge

students need for the digital age. The adoption and integration of ICT into the

teaching and learning environment provides more opportunities for teachers and

students to work better in a globalized digital age. ICT has the potential to play an

increasingly important role in education, be it in the classroom, administration,

online instruction, or other activities (Lawrence & Tar 2018).

Technological changes in our digital age challenge schools to integrate

innovative technologies into learning and teaching and require the acquisition of

digital skills and competence by teaching staff. Digital competence is the set of

skills, knowledge, and attitudes that make learners use digital media for
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participation, work, and problem solving, independently and in collaboration with

others, in a critical, responsible, and creative manner (Blau et al., 2017).

Teachers are the key to using ICT in schools because they are at the center

of change and can change the teaching and learning process; thus, the

implementation of ICT depends on their eagerness and skills. Teachers who have

positive beliefs in the cultural aspects of computer technology will use it in

education. Teachers should be skilled to implement ICT in teaching and learning

effectively. Some teachers accept the use of computers in their classes, but they

do not know how to change their teaching methods (Gilakjani, 2017).

With the technological developments over the last few decades, information

and communication technology (ICT) has provided a ‘leading edge’ in the field of

education as it has provided a platform for educationists to introduce a way that

can replace the traditional methods of teaching with innovative ones (Watanabe et

al., 2017). Integrating ICT into teaching and learning practices necessitates

scholars to modify the way in which curriculum content is delivered. The notion of

change brings about advantages and perceived barriers for academics who are at

the forefront of the institution (Goh & Sigala, 2020).

Children learn and grow in the context of multiple nested systems

interacting with each other. Both the microsystem, which is children’s direct

interaction with their families and schools they attend, and the mesosystem, which

is the relationship between entities within the microsystem such as the school and

the home, directly impact children’s learning development (Pavlakis, 2018).

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The role of more knowledgeable others in technology integration "More

knowledgeable others" (MKO) are individuals who have a better understanding

and skill concerning a specific process, concept, or task (McLeod, 2020). In a

traditional sense, the MKO usually takes the form of a teacher, parent, coach, or

other adult who achieves a certain proficiency level in the said task. To apply this

idea to the context of this study, MKO can also be a form of technological devices

such as tablets and computers, which provide students with the challenge of

teaching with inadequate financial funding and incorporating digital literacy skills

into their curriculum (Pratolo & Solikhati, 2021).

Information and communication technology (ICT) has revolutionised the

way the world works, and its impact is equally felt in the field of education, including

the kindergarten classroom. ICT is increasingly being viewed as an integral part of

future classrooms, specifically to help equip students with 21st-century skills

(Charalambidis, 2014). It is a tool that goes beyond the incorporation of computer

hardware, software, digital cameras, video cameras, and telecommunications into

classrooms; this tool pushes to integrate technology with education policy,

pedagogy, and curriculum (Chalak, 2018).

All the reviews of literature pointed out how important it is to integrate

information and communication technology (ICT) into children's learning,

especially since this is an era of technology and both teachers and students should

learn the basics of ICT in order to keep up with the trend in education. For teachers

to integrate ICT, they must also be equipped with enough knowledge, and the
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school must also have sufficient learning technology so children receive the

intended outcomes of the integration.

Related Studies

The use of information and communication technology (ICT) in education

has been a topic of interest for many researchers in recent years. Numerous

studies have been conducted to investigate the impact of ICT integration on both

students' academic performance and teachers' teaching practises. In this literature

review, we examine several related studies on the topic of ICT integration in

education. Specifically, the researcher explores the findings of studies that discuss

the positive effect of ICT integration on students' academic performance, teachers'

teaching practises, and the challenges faced in implementing ICT integration in the

classroom. The researcher also examines studies that present opposing views on

the effectiveness of ICT integration. This review aims to provide a comprehensive

understanding of the benefits and challenges associated with ICT integration in

education and how it specifically impacts kindergarten pupils.

The study of Suarez-Rodriguez et al. (2018), titled "A Basic Model

Integration of ICT Teachers: Competence and Use," shows that there is a

connection between teachers’ competences in ICT and both uses (personal-

professional and in the classroom). Therefore, having more ICT competences

represents a more frequent use of these resources by teachers. The results of the

study also highlighted that being more competent in or feeling more self-

confidence with ICT implies a more advanced stage of teachers adopting ICT.
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The findings of the above-cited study would be helpful in comparing the

possible results of the present since ICT integration will be one of the variables to

examine in which various competences in terms of media information assessment,

accessibility of education, and information literacy would be assessed and later

correlated to students’ outcomes as products of personal-professional growth in

the classroom.

The study of Ihmeideh and Al-Maadadi (2018) titled, “Towards Improving

Kindergarten Teachers’ Practices Regarding the Integration of ICT into Early Years

Setting” results revealed that the ICT integration training programme had an impact

on teachers’ perceptions and practices as it increased teachers’ awareness and

understanding of the value and applications of ICT tools in children’s learning.

Teachers’ practices have positively changed because of using ICTs and the

training programme helped teachers improve the quality of their ICT practices.

Finally, the training programme was beneficial in reducing the obstacles which

were hindering the integration of ICT into teaching practices. The study highlights

the need for more and better ICT training programmes for early childhood teachers

so as to increase the successful integration of ICT within early years settings.

The study of Ihmeideh and Al-Maadadi (2018) is related to the present study

since it proves that ICT integration is beneficial to early years learners. According

to their study is has a positive change in the performance which the current paper

also hypothesized and be proven later. However, in the present study quasi

experiment is utilized to check whether there is an increase in the pupils’

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performances with the used of ICT integration intervention while the previous

focused more on the statistical associations of variables.

Likewise, the study conducted by Razak et al. (2018) on “Success

Implementation of Information and Communication Technology Integration in

Malaysian Public Schools: An Activity System Analysis Approach” which findings

revealed three conditions that led to successful ICT integration: 1) types of ICT

tools in the school, 2) rules and regulations in the school that shape the ICT culture,

and 3) division of labor within the school community. The findings indicate that

school stakeholders must work together to resolve tensions introduced by systemic

contradictions in different activity systems, which shape school ICT culture.

The aforesaid study is relevant to the research at hand, for it both focused

on the integration of ICT in the classroom and claimed that ICT integration should

be a culture that starts in the younger generation to set an advanced culture for

technology. However, the two study differ in terms of scope since the previous

study is conducted abroad, and the present is conducted in Samar, Philippines

which ICT is in progression phase.

Similarly, Merillo and Domingo (2019) conducted study titled, “Technology

in Pedagogy: Teachers’ Perception Towards the Effectiveness of ICT Integration

in Language Teaching”, the results indicate that teachers strongly agree that ICT

integration is an important tool in enhancing the teaching and learning process.

Most teachers in this study strongly agreed that their students learn more

effectively with the use of ICT as lessons designed are more engaging and

interesting. Both the teachers’ age and their teaching experience as profile
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variables were found to have a significant relationship to their perception towards

the effectiveness of ICT integration in the language classroom.

Merrillo and Domingo’s (2019) study is relevant to the present research as

it shows the positive effect of ICT integration in a specific subject and emphasizes

that students learn more with the use of ICT. This is also the goal of the present

research, which validates the positive effect of ICT integration, however it differs

because it is not in a specific subject but in kindergarten classes.

Associated to the discussed relevant study is another study is conducted by

Magen-Nagar and Firstater (2019) titled, “The Obstacles to ICT Implementation in

the Kindergarten Environment: Kindergarten Teachers’ Beliefs” which shows that

three main obstacle-related categories, of which the first two are most salient: (1)

pedagogically, despite acknowledgment of its value, ICT does not play a key role

in the kindergarten teachers’ education philosophy; (2) didactically, ICT is used

mainly as a source of information and for instructional illustration, rather than as a

means to new teaching strategies; and (3) developmentally, computer use affects

children’s social development, especially those with special needs, but not always

positively.

The work of Magen-Nagar and Firstater (2019) is related to the research at

hand as it resulted in the effect of ICT implementation in the kindergarten

environment, especially in the aspect that ICT impacts the social development of

pupils with special needs. This shows the positive effect of ICT, which is also the

claim of the present study, that ICT has a positive effect on students, thus there is

a need for integration.

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Another study titled, “The Effects of University Teachers’ Perception,

Attitude and Motivation on their Readiness for the Integration of ICT in Classroom

Teaching” of Zamir and Thomas (2019) found that the enabling nature of

technology for instructional use depends on multiple teacher related aspects that

help in technology integration in higher education. In this study, the results also

showed that there is a strong association between university teachers’ ICT

competencies and perceptions, attitudes, and motivation exhibit teachers’

enthusiasm and readiness for the integration of technology, provided there is a

control over administration, infrastructure, and students to allow teachers to uptake

technology with ease.

The abovementioned study of Zamir and Thomas (2019) is related to the

research at hand as it discusses the association on the personal variables of the

teachers and their level of ICT integration. Though the previous study focused

more on the personal variates of the teachers and not how it would affect the

performance of student, still it is a useful information that the integration results to

teachers’ improved competencies.

In addition to Zamir and Thomas (2019) study is of Daudi and Nzilano

(2019) works titled, “ICT Integration in Teaching and Learning: Perceptions and

Practices of Secondary School Students in Tanzania” in which they revealed that,

that the environment for integrating ICTs in teaching and learning is good at the

school. This is so considering that students’ perception and practices regarding

this are good, the students are satisfied with the accessibility of ICTs and some

students own ICT. On the other side, aspects such as lack of free time to use
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computers outside formal classroom learning session, prohibition of owning

personal ICT tools at school and usage of computers in teaching only computer

related subjects appear to be the barriers towards fully integrating the usage of

these tools to enhance teaching and learning. In all, the school’s efforts to integrate

ICT has the most important resource in place; the students’ positive attitude

towards the whole thing.

The study of Daudi and Nzilano (2019) is relevant to the current study for it

highlighted the positive effect of ICT integration, which shows that full integration

of ICT enhances teaching and learning. It is also the claim of the research at hand.

However, the two differs in terms of the aspect of examining ICT as barrier to

teaching and learning when the subjects are not computer related, further, the

previous the study was conducted abroad while the present is in the local of Samar,

Philippines that focused more in the preparatory schooling.

Another study is of Zeng (2021) titled, “An Empirical Research on China’s

Policy for ICT Integration in Basic Education from 1988 to 2021” which results

depict that he characteristics of China’s policy patterns are identified. Policy

evolution based on policy keywords, focused educational elements, policy tools,

and policy targets further shows us the underlying intentions and logic of policy for

ICT integration in basic education. New technologies and their hype cycles

constantly appear and impact educational development. Considering the rapid

speed of scientific and technological innovation, educational policy planning is

more and more important. By analyzing China’s policy patterns and evolution, this

study supplies policymakers in other regions and countries with suggestions for
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possible approaches to integrating ICT in basic education. First, the integration of

ICT should be leveraged to a nation-level considering that lack of policy alignment

has been a major challenge for the integration process.

The above-cited study of Zeng (2021) is relevant to the current study as it

emphasized the important effect of ICT integration in basic education. Though they

focused more on policy alignment of the implementation and the integration

process, it is useful as to the direction of the current research. If the current study

results in policy redirection, it will be a good impetus to improve the research at

hand’s locale to improve policy for ICT integration in the classroom.

Another study that conforms to the results of Zeng is of Ecinares and

Benavides (2022) titled, “Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Skills

and Level of Integration in Teaching Science” which revealed that use ICT to make

presentation slides/ delivery and use ICT to monitor and evaluate children’s

progress or performance with weighted means of 3.29 and 3.15, respectively.

However, the use of ICT to assign web-based projects to students as a means of

emphasizing specific complex thinking skill strategies aligned to the content

standards has the lowest weighted mean of 2.65 that is interpreted as often.

The above-mentioned study by Ecinares and Benavides (2022) showed the

positive effect of ICT integration in the classroom, although it was specifically used

in science and at a higher-grade level. It is an indication that, with the use of ICT,

student performance showed progress, and it is a useful tool to improve complex

thinking skills.
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Also recently conducted study is of Raymundo (2022) titled, “Effectiveness

of the Teacher-made Video Lessons and Learners’ Activity Sheets to the

Performance of Kindergarten Pupils”, based on the findings of the study it was

revealed that the pretest performance is lower than the posttest performance

gained by the kindergarten pupils after the integration of the new intervention which

is the teacher made video lessons and Learners activity sheets in the delivery of

the most essential learning competencies on the specific topics presented by the

teachers. Based on the results of the pretest and posttest, it was resulted to

computed t value of 2.884 and found to be greater than the critical t value of 0.041

that leads to the decision of the hypothesis to reject based from the statement of

“there is no significant difference between the test scores of the pretest and

posttest performances of the kindergarten pupils before and after the integration

of the teacher-made video lessons and Learners’ Activity sheets”.

The abovementioned study of Raymundo (2022), although related, runs

counter to the claim of the study that ICT integration, like the use of videos for

lessons, is effective. However, this can be used to support the idea that there is a

negative effect of ICT integration; it may be applicable to other grade levels but not

to the kindergarten learners.

The reviews of related studies revealed that there are opposing results for

ICT integration; there are authors who claim that it effectively increases or

improves the performance of students and even the teaching skills of teachers as

it serves as a teaching tool; however, there are also authors who emphasize the

negative effect of ICT integration, especially on the younger generation; thus, this
 30

study is useful to revalidate the results that ICT integration is effective specifically

for kindergarten pupils.